This MBA student bought Google’s domain name for $12
We knew Google was rebranding as Alphabet – but this is ridiculous. An MBA student from Boston has told the curious tale of how he ended up as the proud owner of the Google.com domain name – for several minutes, anyway.
Sanmay Ved was experimenting with Google's new Domains site, which allows users to register a domain name and start a website. Out of curiosity, he typed "Google.com". "To my surprise, [it] was showing as available," wrote Ved in a LinkedIn post.
Having added the domain to his cart, Ved paid for it.
"I was hoping I would get an error… saying transaction did not go through, but I was able to complete [the] purchase, and my credit card was actually charged," he wrote.
"My Google Search Console (aka Google Webmaster Tools) was auto-updated with webmaster related messages for the Google.com domain which actually means ownership was transferred to me,"
But alas, his time as the owner of one of the most-visited websites in the world was short-lived. Minutes later, he received a message saying Google had not been able to process the transaction.
"On searching again for the domain Google.com, it now finally shows as unavailable," said Ved.
This isn't the first time this kind of thing has happened to a Silicon Valley tech giant. Ved mentions the time a cheeky tech type bought Microsoft's hotmail.co.uk address after the domain ran out. Although he attempted to alert the company to its mistake, it ignored him – until tech site The Register followed up the story.
Earlier this year Indie record label Alcopop! Records bought Ukip's domain name for £200, to howls of mirth from opposition parties.